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Copyright 2010 Google Inc.

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
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  <a href="/personfinder/global/howitworks">How it works</a><br>
  <b>Frequently asked questions</b><br>
  <a href="/personfinder/global/responders">For responders</a><br>
  <a href="http://code.google.com/p/googlepersonfinder/">For developers</a>
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Frequently asked questions
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<h2>When and why did Google build Person Finder?</h2>
Google engineers built Person Finder
in response to the January 2010 Haiti earthquake
to help those affected connect with their loved ones.
Previously, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina,
multiple websites created similar tools but did not join their data together,
forcing families and aid workers
to keep track of many tools across different websites
when looking for information.
Google Person Finder addresses this problem
by serving as a common back-end to collect and present this information.  
It implements a common format (PFIF) for this data
that was established by Katrina volunteers.

<h2>What impact has Google Person Finder had to date?</h2>
We measure the impact of the product through usage and customer stories.
Google Person Finder received 55,100 records related to the Haiti earthquake,
11,600 records related to the Christchurch, New Zealand earthquake,
and more than 600,000 records related to the Japan tsunami.
We've also received numerous emails with anecdotes
from people who have located friends and loved ones using Google Person Finder.

<h2>How does Google.org decide whether or not to launch Person Finder in response to a disaster?</h2>
Google Person Finder is one tool
that <a href="http://google.org/crisisresponse">Google Crisis Response</a> may launch in the aftermath of a disaster.
The Crisis Response team analyzes the scale of the disaster
and the available technology in the region,
and then determines which of its tools
would be most useful for responding to the given situation.

<h2>Who has access to the Person Finder data?</h2>
Data entered into Google Person Finder is available to the public
and viewable and usable by anyone.
Google does not review or verify the accuracy of this data.
The standard
<a href="http://google.com/accounts/TOS">Google Terms of Service</a>
apply to all users of Google Person Finder.

<h2>How does Google keep Person Finder records up-to-date?</h2>
Google Person Finder depends on users to update and remove records
when no longer relevant.
When you enter a new record in Google Person Finder,
you can specify when you want it to expire.
It will automatically disappear from Google Person Finder at that time,
and it will be gone from our backups within 60 days thereafter.
Google is not responsible for updating the data,
and we don’t want to publish or keep this information longer than necessary. 

<h2>Does Google validate the accuracy of information before allowing people to post?</h2>
All data entered into Google Person Finder is available to the public
and viewable and usable by anyone.
We are unable to systematically validate the accuracy of the information
at the time it’s posted,
since Google Person Finder is largely valuable for the immediacy
by which people can find and post information.
That does mean that people will sometimes post incorrect information.
We continue to do our best to remove such posts when flagged.  

<h2>Is there something that I can do to help,
as a person with local knowledge?</h2>
If you have information about a person, make sure to update Person Finder.

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